Are you tired of your typical columned and boxed layout? It is time to learn how to break out of the box and do something creative. In this post, I've collected some of the best examples that are designed out of the box. I've also provided some quick CSS tips with demo files on how to break out of the box by creatively using background images and the CSS position property.
Example 1: Huge Inc
What really captured my attention on the Huge site is the header design. Notice how the design elements are extended out of the box.
Example 2: Jason Santa Maria
With the amount of effort and details that Jason input on his site, no doubt it is one of the best designer sites around. Click through the posts, you will find that almost each post is unique and has a different stylesheet. Some visual images are within the grid, some are out of the box.
Example 3: A Brief Message
Similar to Jason Santa Maria's website, each post on ABriefMessage.com features a different image and CSS stylesheet. Unlike the other typical blog sites, the text on the site is perfectly layouted, so it runs around the image (it is like reading a print design).
Example 4: Trent Walton
TrentWalton.com puts the focus on the header, where each post displays a different background image and typesetting.
Example 5: Wonderbra Ultimate Strapless
Although there are some accessibility issues with the Wonderbra site (eg. the font is not scalable), but it is a lovely design. The content and images are nicely put together. At the first glance, I thought it was a Flash site. Then, I checked the source code and found it is done by CSS and a Javascript text replacement, cufon.
Example 6: Fox
Fox - Fringe web site broke the boring boxed layout by using spectacular background images that blend from top to bottom. Also, the slant cuts in between the boxes make it look more interesting. Don't forget to check the other Fox TV show sites.
Example 7: Mezzoblue
Mezzoblue made the image extend off the grid. This can be easily achieved by using the margin-left property with negative value.
Quick CSS Tutorials
Using CSS Absolute Position (view demo)
The following tutorial imitate the result as seen on the Huge website using the position property. Use position:absolute to place each element. Then set higher z-index for the logo, nav, and content area (so they are placed above the image box).
Using background image (view demo)
In this example, the logo and the text are embed in the background image. To make the logo text clickable, first specify the H1 to absolute position, then use text-indent to hide the text in the H1 a.
For the Click Here button, use absolute position to place it in exact location. Specify a background image to it and use text-indent to hide the text. On the hover, change the background position to bottom.
Using margin-left (view demo)
This one is extremely simple. Just specify the image with negative margin-left and float:left.
What does “layouted” mean?
And you were just looking at the “design” of the Wonderbra site right?
Thanks for this post……
many time we forget about css ability…!.
Very nice tutorial. Thanks.
That breakout-image trick is definitely a simple piece of genius. I’m still kicking myself for not seeing it from the start. Good mini-tut, too!
I like the post a lot. Very inspirational, thanks.
Of course all people are tired of a typical columned and boxed layout. Obviously, these techlologies are already in the past. More effective solutions already exist. Hope that great examples provided in this post will inspire readers and new ideas will appear in the end.
Thanx God for transparent PNG’s and CSS =) Good article and nice samples…
The last example seems not working properly in IE6. Is there any way to make it work?
Thanks for some great examples to explore and the brief tutorial!
Many thanks for good inspiration for web designers. Waiting for CSS2 to come in play.
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Cheers
I like it Very nice thanks.
More effective solutions already exist. Hope that great examples provided in this post will inspire readers and new ideas will appear in the end.
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Very, very cool. This has inspired me to redesign my website. The thing about web design is making something that stands out from the rest as there are millions of websites out there. Using these techniques give web pages depth and creativity. The nice thing is that as designers we can create anything to captivate an audience and this is a sure-fire way to do that. This is the next wave in innovative web design.
well done
thanks it is…
well done!
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good work